


A Million Dreams

by STARSdidathing



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Best Friends, Childhood Friends, Crushes, First Kiss, First Love, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Friendship/Love, Getting Together, Growing Up Together, M/M, Sappy, Teenagers, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 07:29:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17720789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARSdidathing/pseuds/STARSdidathing
Summary: The first time Tony met Loki he was nine and Loki’s father had come to sell fabrics to Howard Stark.





	A Million Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this after watching The Greatest Showman. I was lukewarm on the movie but even as I watched the opening scene, I wanted to make it FI sooo here you go :D
> 
> [This song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ9GYswlzsI) is where the title comes from and is from the movie. It's almost a theme song for the oneshot. It's so soft and fluffy and I love the lyrics ~~and I prefer P!nk's version~~. ♥

The first time Tony met Loki he was nine and Loki’s father had come to sell fabrics to Howard Stark. 

Loki would normally be helping his father but he had been told to wait out in the hall. Tony had been running down the same corridor planning to rush out into the front gardens and play with the dogs. He turned sharply into the hall and almost collided with the other boy. 

Their eyes had flown wide and they’d grabbed onto each other, force and momentum almost making them topple over, but somehow they were able to balance themselves and remain standing. 

Tony had let out a startled breath, the fear of the fall having made his heart race. His gaze finally shifted to look up and meet bright green. The sight took his breath away and Tony swallowed as he stared at the other boy. His black hair reached to his shoulders and the dirt and dust on his clothes couldn’t take away from the spark in his eyes and the grin on his lips.

“S-Sorry,” Tony stuttered out. The other boy’s smile tugged even wider and Tony felt his heart pound for another reason. “I-I’m Tony.”

“Loki,” the other boy replied.

He looked ready to say more, but they were stopped by the door opening and Howard Stark and Loki’s father finding them. They instantly let go of each other and Tony blurted at the sight of his father’s displeasure; “I tripped. Loki caught me.”

Howard’s glower increased and the older man’s hand came down firm on the back of Tony’s neck, leading him away. Tony tried to crane his neck back around to see the other boy, but his father held him tightly. He got a vicious lecture for his uncouth behaviour and embarrassment once they were in private, but Tony bore it quietly.

Tony found he couldn’t shake the sight of green eyes from his mind and when Loki and his father returned a week later, Tony lingered in the nearby hallway to talk to the other boy again. He waited until Loki was dismissed and then snuck out when the coast was clear.

Loki’s eyes found him in moments. His gaze was curious and his smile amused as he told Tony, “I’m not meant to talk to you.”

“Me either,” Tony answered, grinning back. “But I’m going to anyway.”

The delight and mischief that spread across Loki’s face made Tony’s heart race in a way he didn’t understand, but it made him feel like he’d fallen all over again.

* * *

Their fathers still forbade them to talk or associate, but neither boy listened or cared.

Loki sometimes got caught making Tony laugh or talking to him when he was at the manor. Tony also got in trouble for sneaking out of the house to meet Loki in the gardens, but nothing could make them stop. The only thing that mattered was spending time with each other. They shared ideas, played games, spoke about the future and the ways that Loki would change his fortunes. Tony promised he would help him no matter what.

They had first met when they were children and despite the years that passed they always found time to be together.

But, as they got older, things started to change.

When they were fifteen, they were lying in the gardens of the Stark estate; their conversation drifting away to nothing. The overgrown parts of the garden had long become their secret place. There was a small alcove under a canopy of leaves and branches, it was cramped now that they were older, but they still found a way to fit themselves inside and underneath it. They were currently pressed up together with Tony’s head on his friend’s shoulder. 

Tony had always known he could tell his friend anything, but he was still nervous to explain something that he’d only just learned.

He’d been at a party with all the people he couldn’t stand; the arrogant boys and the conceited girls. He’d missed Loki and just wanted to be with the other boy. He’d been forced to stand and pretend to listen to the other boys talk. He mostly ignored them, but when they started talking about some of the girls, Tony found himself paying attention - not to the girls, but to what everyone said - what they _felt_.

Tony realised he’d never looked at any of the girls that way, but he did look, think and _feel_ that way about Loki.

It was confusing and a little bit scary but Tony had always trusted Loki and he didn’t like to keep secrets from him.

“Loki,” Tony quietly started, shifting a little to look up at the face of his friend. 

Loki had his eyes closed and was smiling gently. He was taller and thinner than Tony and Tony always made sure to bring some food for Loki when he visited, worried his friend wasn’t eating enough. Loki always refused unless Tony ate too. He was a stubborn fool, but Tony only loved it about him.

When Tony fell silent, merely looking at his friend, Loki peeked open one green eye and hummed, ‘ _mm?_ ’

Tony hesitated before very quietly starting, stumbling over every word, “Have... have you ever felt your stomach... and your heart... when you’re... and then you...”

He felt Loki stiffen against him. There was a long silence where Tony didn’t know what to do before Loki was whispering so quietly that Tony barely heard it, “You like someone.”

Tony let out a shaky, relieved breath that he’d been understood. He was still unable to look at his friend as he twisted his hands. “I didn’t... I mean. I heard the others talking at the party about these girls and I just... I didn’t know that’s what this was.”

When Tony finished, Loki didn’t say anything and Tony nervously lifted his head, but Loki had turned away from him. He wasn’t looking at Tony and it made the brunet frown and push up, shifting onto his side to look down at his friend.

“Loki?” The other boy still wouldn’t look at him and it made something anxious twist in Tony stomach. It made Tony reach out and touch his chest. “Loki, what-”

“I... I feel that too...” Loki whispered, his voice sounding strained, “I’m not supposed to.”

“Why aren’t you supposed to?” Tony asked, shifting until he was almost leaning over the other boy.

It made Loki finally look at him; they were face to face with Tony hovering above Loki and staring into the bright green eyes that hadn’t been far from his mind for six years. They burned with a swirl of emotion too turbulent for Tony to understand. 

“Because it’s not a girl I like,” Loki breathed. He closed his eyes a moment later, shakily exhaling and biting his bottom lip, looking as if a weight was resting on his chest.

Tony’s heart pounded. “I don’t like a girl either.”

Loki’s body jolted and his eyes flew back open. There was raw hope, confusion and nerves and Tony could only send him a shy smile in response. It made Loki laugh; startled and small before he smiled back, his pale cheeks flushing.

“We’re not supposed to like boys,” Loki still tried, but his delighted green eyes told a different story.

Tony just beamed. “Well, I’m going to do it anyway.”

Loki laughed once more and the sound made Tony’s stomach flutter and his heart race. Tony didn’t know what he was doing, everything was still new, strange and exciting, but he found himself bending down and Loki tilted up to meet him.

It was a chaste brush of mouths; the things that all the boys had spoken about in whispers. Their lips were dry and it was odd, but it made Tony’s stomach twist even more than usual and in a way that felt _good_.

When they pulled back and smiled at each other, Tony knew that this was one more thing about him and Loki that he would never let the world take away from them.

**Author's Note:**

> Now. I don't see the boys going down the "greatest showman" path, _but_ I can totally picture that when Tony inherits everything on Howard’s death. He and Loki invent something, but Loki takes the rights to it while Tony invests. They both make a tonne of money (and continue inventing together). Loki and Tony also lowkey live together and have a gay old time (and hire gay/trustworthy servants) and they live happily together forever in their big country house, the end. :D


End file.
